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Are player-created races able to exist alongside the races included with Necessary Evil? The book doesn't say anything about player-made races (although this is because the rules didn't exist yet), but I imagine that thematically they would fit so you can get villains like Gorilla Grodd or the Skrulls.

If they are allowed, then should the player create +2 Races or something else? As far as I can tell the races included in Necessary Evil balance out as follows:

Atlanteans

Aquatic (+2 ability (sort of, it's weaker than the one in SWD since you don't get Swimming d6), combined with Dehydration, a –2 ability)

Tough (+2 ability)

Telepathy (+0 Ability?)

Human

Free Edge(+2 ability)

Half-Atlanteans

Telepathy (+0 Ability?)

Heritage (either the +2 Free Edge or the +0 Aquatic & Dehydration)

I'm guessing Telepathy is +0 because it adds what seems like a +1 and –1 ability, but even so these races don't seem to quite add up when using the Race Creation rules in Savage Worlds Deluxe (which, admittedly, did come much later). Does this mean that players shouldn't create their own races and put them along side these races? Or if they can, what do they set them to?

Thunderforge wrote:Are player-created races able to exist alongside the races included with Necessary Evil? The book doesn't say anything about player-made races (although this is because the rules didn't exist yet), but I imagine that thematically they would fit so you can get villains like Gorilla Grodd or the Skrulls.

Check under step 2, Race, of Making Villains (pg. 13 of NE:Ex), "Other races — undead, constructs, or even aliens from other worlds — are also possible, but you’ll create those with superpowers for literally thousands of combinations."

So to make another race in NE, basically start with another race, typically "human," and then add powers and possibly Hindrances (Alien Form, Distinctive Appearance, etc.) to create the new "race."

And while not listed as an "ability" of Atlanteans, note they do have blue skin and stand out in comparison to humans and hybrids. It's not exactly Distinctive Appearance since it isn't different from other members of the same race, but it's a setting-based drawback to be sure. Plus the entire race is "wanted" by the V'sori, so it's harder for them to hide.

Ultimately race creation point values are a guideline not an absolute and have to be adjusted for factors due to setting. Aquatic is a bit more important in NE as is the ability to "overhear" the telepathic conversations of the V'sori (which is even more powerful for Hybrid characters who don't look like an Atlantean/V'sori). Are these worth absolute +1/+2 values? probably not, but taken as a whole, they seem to balance out.

In short though, use the powers and Hindrances to make whatever race a player might want using one of the existing ones as a baseline.

So to play "Sentient Gorilla" just start with "Human" then add Distinctive Appearance and Growth 2 with Monster. Taa-daa, gorilla!